Classic
by Juniper Night
Summary: The first time was to lure that green dog. Then there was the 'Henchy' incident. And now she was being forced to enter a violin competition. Honestly, can't someone else act as bait for a once? No pairings, but this will look into Raven's past a little.
1. Prologue

**Dedicated to Sapphire, Vatala Darkmist, and **_**my**_** faithful string instrument, Cello #12. No other cello sings as sweet, or tunes the way you do. **

)o(

Over the years spent together as a team, it became apparent that if you wanted either Beast Boy or Cyborg's attention, one of the most effective ways to do so was to pull the plug on the video game console. As an added bonus, the ensuing ruckus often served to grab the attention of everyone else in the Ops room; which is precisely why Robin did just that.

"Hey!" Beast Boy and Cyborg protested immediately, "What gives?"

Robin paid their complaints no heed, instead addressing the Titans in their entirety - Central, East, and Honorary – "Does anyone here know how to play classical music?"

His query was met with more than a few blank and puzzled faces. "Nobody? Jericho?"

Jericho closed his hand into fist and rubbed it in a circle around his heart, before making a motion with the same hand that vaguely resembled a llama shutting its mouth.

"Sorry, no." Robin translated out loud, and Jericho nodded his confirmation.

"Dude, you ended our game to ask _that?" _Beast Boy inquired incredulously. But he never got an answer because at that moment Jinx piped up helpfully-

"Raven's got a violin."

Said girl stiffened as she found herself the apparent focus of everyone in the room. Kid Flash seemed to find this hilarious; laughing as he swiftly ran past her and pulled her hood over her eyes, he commented.

"Seriously? That's so cool! Jinx, maybe she can play for you when you draw your unicorns!" Dodging the resultant blasts of pink and black energy his words attracted, he continued nonchalantly "How'd you find that out?"

Jinx wisely decided not to answer, as she was already getting glared at. Robin, however, looked relieved, as if he had feared that the Titans weren't cultured enough.

"Great, I just need you to fill out some paperwork, come up with a false name and a few other details, and then we can enter you as bait in the competition next w-"

"She said I had a violin, _not_ that I could play it. I doubt I remember how to hold the bow, let alone how to place the fingers." Raven cut him off firmly.

"That may be, but it appears that you're the only one who's even picked up a string instrument - excluding guitar," Robin added hastily. "It has to be you," He shrugged apologetically.

Raven's face was carefully blank as she nodded, but hidden in the folds of her cloak, her fists were clenched tightly.

"This is gonna be good," Beast Boy whispered to Cyborg, just out of ear shot of everyone else.

)o(

Raven knelt as she retrieved a Spartan wooden box from the floorboards beneath her bed. It had been a long time since anyone had touched the box - years in fact, since no one had so much as glimpsed it since the HIVE had briefly taken over Titans Tower - so that now, as she brought it back into the light, it was covered in a thick layer of dust. Raven blew off its grimy coating, and carefully wiped it clean with the corner of her cloak. Then, slowly, she slid the cover down to reveal a very singular violin. What the violin lacked in adornment, the material made up for. It bore a semblance to wood; there was a grain, in any case, yet no tree on earth could produce wood with this shade of cobalt blue. As Raven placed the violin and its matching bow into her lap, it seemed to glint even as it drew the shadows closer, as if acknowledging that it was going to be played again soon.

)o(

**A/N this is kind of short, but it felt like a really good ending place, so think of this as a prologue. Please review! Tell me if you think this is OOC, or if you think I rambled, or if I made the slightest grammatical/spelling error. Oh, and I'd like to say that anything Jericho says in sign language, I can say too, which is cool because I'm going to have to expand my vocabulary now :)**


	2. Ready in Five

**A/N I must **_**dis-claim **_**any ownership of the Teen Titans characters and universe, as well as anything else I may make reference to. Fair warning; it **_**might**_** be a squick strange 'round the center, but don't let that discourage you. I can't be sure that it's odd at all, because to me it's all normal. **

"Really, all you have to do is fill in the blanks with something, it doesn't have to be true as long as it's all consistent. I've already filled in a lot of the more obvious bits, gender and instrument and all that, so -

"Explain to me this; _why_ am I being entered in a music competition?" Raven interrupted Robin's rambling. She didn't need him to give her advice on covers; she herself had known more alternate identities than languages, and she knew a considerable amount of them, both of the earth and off of it. No, what she needed to know was why she was doing this in the first place.

Robin's face darkened "There's an unknown kidnapper on the loose. The victims disappear, then show up a couple days later, completely unharmed and with no recollection of what happened while they were missing. The kidnapper has been targeting violinists, male and female, for the last couple of months. So far, all the cases have been fairly spaced out, but now that a lot of the music competitions are starting soon…"

"There's going to be a lot more violinists concentrated into relatively small areas." Raven finished. "So you want me to get kidnapped?"

Robin's masked eyes widened. "No, of course not! There will be other Titans posted throughout the theater to prevent that from happening. The fact that you play violin and the kidnapper targets violinists is purely coincidental – I asked if anyone played classical music just to try and get someone backstage and with the other violinists. It wouldn't matter if you played cello or harp."

Raven _looked_ at him for a few moments, before deciding that he was sincere, and stacking up the paperwork. Robin shivered, half-wishing that she couldn't always read people like that even as he realized that that was part of what made her such a good advisor sometimes; however he did not dwell on the thought long and soon they both left his office.

)o(

"What you listening to?" Jinx asked casually, flopping onto the sofa, right next to Raven.

"The Vinca Quartet, playing Schubert Quartettsatz in C minor," Raven replied as she wrote down _Name: Rowena __Schuhart__, Stage Name: Rowan Sherwood, Age: 16…_

"Never heard of them." Jinx replied honestly. "Are they good?"

Raven nodded. "Technically, I'll be entering the solo category, but in a quartet – a good one anyway, like Vinca – it's easier to tell whether someone's playing at the wrong tempo or dynamic. It has to be really precise. And they're all good at vibrato too." _Email: _

Jinx wasn't sure what some of the terms meant, but she was more or less certain she understood the gist of what Raven was talking about, so she nodded along anyway. "Well, um, happy listening I guess."

"Mm-hmm."_ Accompaniment: No, Disabilities/Medical Conditions: Synesthesia…_ "Beast Boy, could you turn that down? You've seen that a thousand times, and I can't hear the diminuendos."

Beast Boy stuck his tongue out, but complied, turning down the television and diminishing the sci-fi sounds coming from _Clash of the Planets 2_.

)o(

The confirmation arrived two days later at breakfast, along with directions to the theater, private rehearsal time slots, and instructions to arrive no later than an hour before show time, in black tie attire. Starfire – and most of the other girls on the team – were ecstatic. They had often tried to convince Raven to actually participate on the rare girl's-night-in or shopping spree, but the empath refused to partake in so much as a makeover.

"This is wonderful!" Starfire exclaimed, shooting into the air with a rush of unbridled joy. "We shall go to the mall of shopping, and perform braiding maneuvers upon your hair, and do makeovers, and-"

"No!" Raven said, paling beyond her usual skin tone while the guys at the table barely contained their snickers. "For the love of Azar, no make-up."

"It doesn't matter if you use contacts and hair dye, love, people will know you're not human by your skin tone. You need to at least use a little foundation, and some lipstick too for good measure." Argent advised knowingly.

Raven frowned and shook her head. "I told you; no. I'll do a spell." Wait, no, she was still underage, the Ministry would get all in her face about it if she used wand magic. "Or I'll make a potion. Perhaps I'll ask a faerie I know to put a glamour on me, but no make-up – Scathe knows what that put in that stuff." She shuddered, remembering how at one point in history, make up had actual poisoned – and slowly killed – women of nobility. Noticing that the others were looking at her oddly she said "What?"

"Girl, you believe in fairies?" Bumblebee asked incredulously

Raven rolled her eyes and muttered something underneath her breath that sounded suspiciously like 'mortals,' before saying in a louder voice "Of course I believe in faeries, though I suppose you wouldn't based on what you see in Disney and Cinderella. For starters, they don't randomly give magical gifts to humans who are royal or pretty or whatever. Occasionally they'll make trades, but the fae are much more inclined to play the occasional prank, or switch small children from different realms, or even drown humans in the case of kelpies, but mostly they just ignore us – err, you." She amended. Everyone present continued to stare at her as if she had gone mad. "What, do you need proof? Robin what's the time needed to heat water according to the instructions on the coffee maker?" Robin examined the base of the machine.

"5-6 minutes for one mug of coffee," He called, looking puzzled, "but it normally only takes about two minutes when it's just me."

Raven nodded. "See? That's because Tully Grayshanks – he's a brownie – helps it heat up. Brownies like heat." She explained, as she deposited her empty tea mug in the sink. "I'll be in my room." And with that she left, satisfied that she had driven all thought of dresses and hair styles from their heads, though the effort had required an unfortunate amount of talking on her part.

)o(

Raven did not hear any of the whispers, or the giggling. She only barely heard herself tuning. It had been years since she had played violin, true, but tuning to her was still as natural as breathing. Playing again had unlocked similar memories, and they filled her ears more than any current sound;

_The orchestra was rustling with the sounds of last minute stand adjustments, people reordering music, and string players rosining their bows, but all that stopped the moment their conductor lifted his baton; it was almost time to play, the performers were ready behind the curtains..._

_Playing on the street corner, she was thrilled to see a man throw a whole twenty dollar bill into the box; just a couple more generous passerby like that, and she might be able to go the whole winter without having to hunt some poor animal for her meal…_

"_No, Naano," Azar scolded, using her Azarian name, "your fingers are collapsed, how do you expect to reach all the strings?" she said, gently moving Raven's - _Naano's_ hand into the correct position. "There, better?"_

She was jolted out of her memories by two pairs of slim but strong arms around her waist. "Time to go shopping!" she heard someone say behind her before her violin was yanked from her hands and she was dragged unceremoniously out of her room.

)o(

"Hellllllllooooooo! Earth to Raven, do you like this one or not?" Jinx said, gesturing at the dress that currently resided upon Raven's own body.

Raven looked down at the blindingly crimson, one-shoulder-strap dress and wrinkled her nose, wondering how she could have dressed in something so garish without noticing.

"I look like Ms. Scarlet, though I suppose it's not the worse dress I've tried so far." A frilly pink number and a dress that resembled a shirt came to mind.

"What are you thinking about? You're so out of it we could dress you in lingerie and you wouldn't notice," Jinx noted.

"I'm thinking about the muscles in a finger, the pros and cons of being a tree, and the twelve uses of dragon's blood; basically, anything my subconscious can think of to distract me. And I'm not sure how you can truthfully classify that short black one as non-lingerie." Raven responded, turning back into the changing stall.

"Well why don't _you_ pick one? We figured out your dress size a while ago, I can tell you it," Jinx said holding back a smile. This was the side of Raven she had only glimpsed in battle before joining the Titans – stubborn, absentminded, and Tomboyish in her views of personal appearance and all things girly. "Or if you want, I've got a dress you might like. It was on clearance," Jinx thought Raven would like that since she had frowned when she glimpsed some of the price tags.

There was a pause as Raven changed and actually bothered to examine the dress she was wearing this time. "This will work," She said finally.

)o(

Their next stop had been a shoe store, at which Raven had grumbled 'I hate shoes,' but was dragged into any way. She rejected the heels they tried to give her, saying it'd blow her cover if she had to float every time she moved. Instead she browsed until she found a pair of black ballet flats.

By the end of the day, she had purchased the dress – a dark blue sleeveless gown, with a low waist, a full skirt, and a vague 1920s feel to it - the shoes, a weird silver hairclip that Starfire insisted upon, and more violin & viola rosin; She had a lot of practicing to do if she was to get out of this without embarrassing herself.

)o(

**A/N- that's a much better sized chapter. Poor Raven. Couple of things I think I'll mention**

**The Vinca Quartet is real, they came to our school twice last year, and the four of them make us (our 90 member advanced orchestra) sound like we're playing with sandpaper.**

** does not exist, but at least Orc Dork rhymes, take that band geeks! (It's ok, it's still easier for you tune your instruments)**

**Um yeah, the fae aka fairies are a diverse bunch. Brownies are not something I made up, they're one of the wee folk that originated in Scotland. Kelpies are like water spirits that generally look like horses, and drown their victims when they try to get on the kelpies back. Most mortals can't see Faeries, unless there is a changeling in their ancestry. No, beast boy is not a changeling, he's a shape shifter. Changelings are faerie infants who've been switched for mortal ones. You've just got a lecture on: faeries!**

**Review or PM me! If you have questions about terms, or really liked this, or want to flame my grammar/editing skills!**


	3. Con Fuoco

_It's official_, Raven decided as she sat down in front of the mirror,_ I no longer bear any resemblance at all to myself_. The eyes that scrutinized her back were slate, the hands that sat so neatly folded in her lap were still pale, but no longer tinged gray. She resisted the urge to run a finger over her chakra-less forehead, knowing from experience that glamours worked to fool more than just sight. Starfire chattered happily behind her as she worked Raven's – no _Rowan's_ jet black hair into complicated twists and knots, only to redo them. Raven vaguely wondered how Starfire, an alien who had been on earth barely two years, had managed to learn so many hairstyles, but soon returned to her previous train of thought.

Tsuri On'na, an unusually straightforward tree faerie she knew, had been happy to provide the glamour. That was not to say she didn't have conditions, of course, but they hardly could be counted as such. Raven had already explained to Tsuri how she had come to be in the competition - an explanation that ended up encompassing why she joined first the muggle world and then the Teen Titans – so Tsuri insisted that Raven come to her grove whenever she practiced her violin. This had come as something of a relief to Raven, who had been wondering how she would be able to practice in the Tower with so many people.

The hours spent in the cool forest passed quickly for Raven, who sometimes spent whole afternoons working at refining her legato, meticulously checking for out of tune notes as she went. She altered between composing pieces that matched the weather and melodies that seemed to match the overall mood of Tsuri and the small crowd that had taken to listening from behind trees and within the underbrush. The quiet assortment of listeners was made up mostly of tree fae and dryads, but among them were goblins and ravens, and even a water nymph from a nearby brook.

She was just thinking that she ought to go to the forest more often, when Starfire finally announced that her hair was done.

_And so it begins_, she thought dryly.

)o(

Raven sat perfectly still as she waited backstage with the other contestants. There was very little conversation between them, as they had come from as far away as the Great Plains to be here, and as such everyone's attention was riveted on the small screen in front of them. One of the few exceptions was a duet sitting next to her. The two violists, apparently from British Columbia, were prattling to each other in whispered French, presumably analyzing the other entrants as they performed. Numerous violists, violinists, cellists, bassists, and even an erhu player had already played, sometimes as soloists and other times in groups. Currently on screen was a harpist, who was strumming the final chords of a lilting ballad. And then it was Rowan Sherwood's turn, the final act of the night.

As she walked on stage, she took note of her surroundings. The Jump City Opera House was far larger then she had anticipated, though she could only barely see beyond the stage under the glaring lights. She could, however, hear the slight titters the audience produced at the sight of the blue violin; they no doubt thought it was one of the cheap colored-plastic ones that were taking the internet by storm. However, they had enough etiquette to silence themselves when she positioned the violin on her shoulder. She glanced briefly at the panel of seven judges in front of her, before lifting her bow to the string, and closing her eyes to better see the colors.

Raven began to play.

At first, the colors were predominately pink, a color widely interpreted as happiness. But this pink was faded and muddied. Superficial. It was the life of Angela, her mother. Gradually, the music began to become darker, black suspicion lacing the rapidly lowering notes. And then, almost out of nowhere, the song intensified. Her bow slipped onto the E string and the notes became short and fast. Raven began to speckle the quarter notes with slurs, building the tension, before abruptly drawing out a single, clear note. She let the note ring for almost a whole measure, and when she started playing again, it was as if a whole new song began. In the space of three measures, she had gone from an anguished blood red to an almost unnaturally calm shade of palest blue. The melody was simultaneously calming and dead, devoid of any emotion. The bow moved in a controlled, almost stiff fashion across the strings, for after Angela had been forced to bear the demonic daughter of Trigon, she had almost eagerly thrown off her past to become Arella, a dedicated monk. The story of Arella finished, Raven transitioned seamlessly into her own story, the story of little Naano. The story was hopeful and emerald tinged, and the music reflected that as she picked up the tempo with a new swing to her bow. But as was the pattern in this narrative song, the mood darkened again, this time into disappointment.

_She had waited a very long time for this, this day where she would be allowed to see, and play music for, her mother. She did not know much about Arella, only that she lived somewhere in the temple and had entrusted her daughters caretaking to the other monks, a common practice in Azarath. Naano found herself bouncing slightly as she walked, and quickly calmed herself before a monk noticed and 'suggested' an extra hour of meditation. She had practiced violin with Azar since – well, it had definitely been before she was able to read anyway – She knew the perfect song to play for Arella, an earth song by someone named chi-KOV-skee. _

_She was ready to know her mother, but Arella wasn't ready to know her. _

_When Naano walked into the room, Arella flinched and stared at her with wide, wet eyes that seemed to be halfway in another time or place. Naano didn't see colors when she played music yet, but she was still an empath, and the wave of horror and sadness hit her like a whole shelf of books. She had never felt anything like that before, and the monks hastily ushered her away, deciding that this was a bad idea._

_That was to be her last memory of Arella for more than eight years, as it was not long afterwards when Trigon kidnapped her, tortured her in his fiery domain, and then threw her to Earth, the transition from dimension to dimension messing with her still relatively young mind, twisting its interpretation of things and altering her thought pathways._

Rowan didn't play anything to describe Trigon's domain, for how could a violin capture anything as terrible as Limbo, eighth level of the underworld? Instead she skipped to the disorienting confusion of the portals between worlds. But hope, being stronger than a façade of happiness, crept back into the song, and she was just ending the song with the calm of a pizzicato forest, when the lights went out.

)o(

Red X had been waiting in the rafters for a very long time, and he was both disappointed and extremely bored. He preferred his music with words, especially after listening to so much classical music over the past couple of months. It did not help that all these people were playing the exact same centuries-old songs, one after another. Seriously, didn't classical musicians have any creativity? If it wasn't for his latest job, he'd have been out of here by now. Some ritzy old heiress had recently taken up violin playing in her retirement, and had hired him to find 'a violin better then all others,' so that she could become the world's next great violinist. Red X thought she probably had some old-people disease, and knew from experience that she made a nail on a chalkboard sound like it had musical potential; however, she was offering enough dough to make him stick around a while longer. He had already presented several violins to her, but each had been rejected. The last one he brought her had even earned him a swipe of her cane, because apparently it wasn't a violin at all, but a viola.

Red X had done some research since then. Who'd have thought there were so many different variations of the same stupid instrument? And then there were all these different related instruments too, cellos, bases, violas, violones, erhus, sihus… ugh, the list went on forever. So far, none of the contestant's violins fit the bill, and it didn't help that there were a bunch of non-violinists there too, wasting his time. He could be robbing a museum somewhere, messing with that walking traffic light, Robin. At least it was the final contestant's turn now. Wait a minute… he hadn't heard this song before. After the initial happy-go-lucky intro, the song became pretty good - dark and depressing, but good. And the sound quality was better than anything else he'd heard earlier. He squinted, and was surprised to see that the violin was _blue_.

_Okay, definitely not Guarneri or Stradivari made, but it could be mistaken for one if you didn't actually see it_, He thought. The blue would be a dead giveaway in identifying the stolen violin, but it wasn't his job to tutor whoever happened to be paying him at the moment. He would deliver this violin to the Crazy Lady, collect his payment, and get out of there.

But first, he wanted to hear a bit more of this song.

As he heard it coming to an end, he sighed, stood up, and readied an X._ Ready, aim, fire! _He thought jokingly as he threw the projectile across the theater. No one noticed the flying red X, but they did notice when the lights went out. He smiled as he heard the people shriek at the bit of darkness, and then he swooped.

)o(

The moment the lights went out, Raven was on guard. She was scanning the theater, when suddenly someone grabbed her from behind. Raven sucked in a breath through her teeth as she felt herself swinging upward. Whoever was holding her landed nimbly in the rafters above the stage, then promptly dropped her, sending her reeling. Catching her balance, she turned around.

"Red X?" She asked, slightly surprised. Since when did Red X kidnap people? He must have very strange clientele.

"Oh, so you've heard of me then? Are you from Jump City, or has my reputation exceeded that boundary?" Raven scowled at his egotistic manor, and went into a defensive position, at which Red X laughed. "Somehow, I doubt that your violin practicing is going to help you escape me."

He must have been shocked when his punches hit air. The violin severely limited her ability to throw punches, and the skirt was annoying when it came to kicking, but she had always been better at dodging anyway. While she ducked, jumped, and blocked, she searched for something that could help her without giving her identity away. She found what she was looking for in a metal rod and a rope. Jumping back lightly she reached for the rod, but as she felt her fingers close on it, she felt something small and sharp enter her upper arm. Her automatic reaction was to bang the pipe against his head. While he rubbed his cranium, she realized that he had injected her with something.

_Narcotic, _she guessed,_ and probably a strong one. That would explain why none of the victims have any memory of where they've been taken; they were asleep the whole time!_

Knowing that she would not be able to resist the drug indefinitely, she launched herself at Red X, swinging the metal rod wherever she saw an opening. Gradually, Rowan forced him back, until he tripped over the rope she had seen earlier, a line actors and actresses used to 'fly' onto the stage. Before he could get back up, Rowan was behind the fallen thief, her violin tucked under her arm, yanking his hands together and securing them in that position with the Weird Silver Hair Thing.

She tried to stand up, but it was like she had suddenly gotten Orthostatic Hypotension. A black fog, that was simultaneously an all consuming darkness and a shiny green cloud, obliterated most of her view of the theater, and what little she could see was spinning beneath her unsteady feet. She knew that even if she was bale to keep her eyes all the way open, it wouldn't make much difference, and it was like she was falling…

"Are you okay?" she heard someone ask her. Turning towards the speaker, she forced her eyes to cooperate long enough to see a domino mask and spiked back hair looking back at her through a swirling tunnel of the greenish-black fog.

"Red X… sedative," Raven said urgently, "good thing I'm not – not a cellist. Cellist or a harper…" She mumbled, before drifting into unconsciousness, and leaving behind a very confused Boy Wonder.

)o(

**A/N – For those who didn't understand that last sentence, I was referring to chapter 2, in which Robin says that it wouldn't have mattered if Raven played cello or harp. Synesthesia is real, but no, I don't have it. Hopefully I managed to describe it somewhat accurately, although Raven's form of synesthesia appears to be sound **** color **** emotion, which doesn't exist (as far as I'm aware) and is unusual because there are three intertwined senses, as opposed to two. I'm pretty sure that somewhere in the last two chapters, FanFiction-dot-net omitted Raven's fictitious email address; Rowan Sherwood at orc-dorks dot net. **

**Review! Please, I don't know how many people actually have seen this and liked it because my stats went offline for a couple of days, and your reviews are what keep me posting!**


	4. Coda

**A/N – See if you can Spot the Pun.**

Raven could not pinpoint the exact moment she became aware that she was staring at a very nondescript ceiling, but once she did become conscious of such, she also realized that she had been staring for a while. Brushing a loose strand of hair from her face, she noted that her hand had come from underneath a set of sheets, and the room around her smelled of disinfectant and metal. Raven strained her ears trying to sort out a particular sound from the white noise – yes, there it was, the steady beeping of a heart monitor…

Raven wasn't stupid; she knew better then to try and sit up. Instead, she turned her head slowly and cautiously, taking in the medical equipment, the pre-dawn light filtering through the windows, and the unoccupied gurneys next to hers. Turning her gaze upon her arm, she did not see a single scratch or bruise, so why was she in the medical bay? And then it struck her that while there were no marks present, her skin looked a tad _too_ normal – she was still wearing the faerie glamour. Suddenly all the memories came back. She had been in a competition, she had played violin, she had fought Red X – she had worn a _dress_. Now she wore another dress of a totally different variety, a hospital gown which she had been changed into whilst still unconscious. Raven sighed aloud. She had come to think of the female Titans as sisters, but she couldn't help feeling a bit uncomfortable knowing that they would probably bring up her boring, utilitarian underclothes at the next torturous 'girl talk.'

She welcomed the distraction from her thoughts when a figure walked into the room, although she ended up getting a headache despite her precautions when Aqualad shouted in surprise,

"You're up!"

"Thanks," she responded sarcastically, rubbing her temples.

"Sorry," he whispered sheepishly, though the damage had already been done.

Raven ignored the apology, asking instead, "How long have I been out?"

"A day and two nights. We didn't expect you to regain consciousness for at least another day."

Raven shrugged. _Another day at least, _she thought, processing Aqualad's words_, at least a couple days, like all of Red X's other _human_ victims…_

Aqualad seemed to have noticed something at that point, looking around the Med Bay as if something was missing.

"Have you seen Speedy?" He asked, seemingly out of the blue.

"No. Should I have?" Raven asked, caught slightly off guard by the unanticipated question.

Aqualad shook his head disapprovingly, "He should have been here. It was his shift-"

"Shifts? You guys were taking turns watching me sleep?" Raven asked. She was just teasing, but Aqualad didn't have to know that.

"Ummm, well, it's protocol, you know? You never know when something will happen… or something." Aqualad stumbled, and Raven decided to cut him some slack.

"So what happened? Back at the theater," She inquired.

Aqualad rolled one of the other gurneys closer to hers, and Raven noticed that her blue violin had been laid carefully on the pillow. Settling himself upon the gurney, he began to recount what had happened.

"Robin positioned me, Cyborg, Jinx, and Jericho at the theater exits, while he himself told the mayor that he would be present on an empty balcony, since the mayor didn't know about the plan to have a Titan among the contestants. We were all there when the lights went out, but we couldn't see what happened. Only Robin, from his position on the balcony saw Red X, just as the room went dark. We would have gotten to you sooner, but, well, we couldn't see, and no one present had flying capabilities," Aqualad explained, more than a little sheepishly. "Robin's just glad he caught you before you _really_ fell, seeing as you were at least 5o feet above the audience."

"What about Red X?"

"He escaped. I have to give him credit though, I doubt Batman himself could escape a pair of handcuffs that fast." Aqualad said, ignoring the fact that most people wouldn't - or wouldn't be able to – restrain Batman in the first place.

It was Ravens turn to be embarrassed, as she attempted to shake her head on the pillow. "I didn't have a pair of handcuffs; I had a Weird Silver Hair Thing. Personally, I think that it would have been harder to escape then a pair of manacles anyway, but evidently Red X is far more versed in hair ornaments then I ever hope to be."

Aqualad chuckled a moment, but then stopped, and avoided looking at her for some reason.

"What?"

"Nothing. It's just… it was really weird seeing us all look _normal_ last night. And you still look… unusually normal, I guess."

"It's just an illusion, it'll come of– Shoot, Aqualad could you do me a favor and go down to the base of the tower, find a stone with a hole through the center, and bring it back up here?" she requested.

"Why?" He asked, looking completely lost.

"I need help undoing the faerie magic," Raven replied matter-of-factly.

"So, naturally, you're enlisting the aid of a rock?"

"Naturally," came the short reply. Aqualad still had no idea how a rock was going to help Raven lift a fairy illusion, but then Raven was a part of two groups that common consensus agreed he should not try to understand: Magic Wielders, and Women.

Before he left, however, Aqualad smirked and tossed a paper onto her bed, explaining "I think you might find this interesting, O' Acclaimed and Applauded Artist."

Raven quirked an eyebrow, before gingerly pulling herself into a sitting position, and holding the paper up where she could read the article which took up a good portion of the front page.

_**Mystery Violinist does Disappearing Act**_

_Reported by Clark Kent, __**The Daily Planet**_

_Rowena Schuhart, at the age of 16, has taken the musical world by storm. Having debuted with an original composition at the Jump City Oprah House this past Saturday, the judges were astounded by the quality of her playing, calling it technically perfect and refreshing in tenor. Known by the stage name Rowan Sherwood, Schuhart entered a classical music competition open to the entire western coast of North America, and won the soloist division with her distinctively cobalt blue violin._

_Rowan Sherwood never finished her performance, however. Towards the end of her song, she disappeared during a theater-wide blackout. Authorities believe she is the latest victim of an as yet unidentified kidnapper, who is believed to have kidnapped as many as thirteen violinists and a violist in the past six months. Attempts to find Schuhart and/or verify that she has indeed been kidnapped have yielded unexpected results:_

_Record officials claim she doesn't exist, begging the question, just who is Rowena Schuhart?_

_One member of the audience, who prefers to remain anonymous, claims she knew of a Rowan Sherwood who was just as talented in an entirely different field, who disappeared just as suddenly eight years prior to Rowena Schuhart's debut on Saturday. The witness's account was about a young girl who matched the description of the violinist Rowan Sherwood in nearly every way, save for the fact that she was a painter, not a musician. _

_Among other things, the audience member also declared that we should not expect to hear from her for a very long time if she left on her own terms._

_No matter what circumstances she left under, whether she is or isn't a painter, while on the Jump City Oprah House stage, Rowan Sherwood was truly Virtuoso._

)o(

**A/N: Ha, take that state testing! Despite your evil CAT I have managed to post this chapter, albeit a bit belatedly. Did I make you laugh? Does this give you a headache, due to atrocious grammar? Did you have a favorite/least favorite moment? Tell me in a review!**


	5. Giocoso Alternate Ending

"You, Red X, are one of the best thieves the world has ever known."

"Thanks, but could we get down to - ?"

"You will respect your elders, young man! Children should be seen and not heard!" The old heiress shouted, animatedly waving her cane.

Red X wiped the spit from his mask, and grimaced, but let the old lady continue her rambling. He had been hired by many people of great wealth, and a quite a few of them had been pretty whacked out. This particular client was one of them, so he'd just have to deal.

Turning on her slipper-clad heel, she led the masked criminal into a parlor – an actual parlor, complete with kerosene lamps and faded rose wallpaper – where she told Red X of her diabolical plot to find a violin that was better than all others, so that she may join the ranks of Carmen Dulce, and Cody Giocoso, famous violinists whom Red X was fairly certain did not exist. She then found it necessary to demonstrate to him what she could accomplish on an ordinary violin.

It sounded remarkably like dying bunnies and rusted door hinges; like asthma attacks and stalled engines. Never had the barely recognizable strains of 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star' sounded as painful as they did now. The moment he got home, Red X vowed to find some nice rap music, or perhaps hip hop, as therapy for his ears. Even Japanese Bubblegum Pop would be better than this.

However, once he had listened to some _real_ classical music, he decided that it wasn't half bad. He found 1812 Overture to be even enjoyable.

But several months later, as he perched in the rafters of the Jump City Opera House, he decided he was sick of it. Always listening, always watching - he should play too! And so mustering up his courage, he dropped onto the stage in the middle of the last act, directly beneath the spotlight.

There was a gasp from the audience at his sudden appearance, but the violinist – whose violin was apparently _blue _– didn't notice him until he reached out and grabbed her wrist, effectively stopping the flow of music. She looked at him in surprise, and her mouth opened slightly, but before she could speak, Red X said in a synthesized voice,

"I challenge you to a duel!"

At this the girl looked completely lost, so he clarified, declaring grandly, "This shall be the violin-off of the century, people will write whole scores about what happens on this stage!" Turning to a curious violist who was just off stage, Red X said cheerfully "I'll take that," before grabbing the viola from her.

The violinist on stage was now looking at him bemusedly, as if he had lost his marbles somewhere; but she shook her head and obliged, raising her instrument to shoulder-position with a knowing smile on her lips.

"You choose the song," Red X offered, giving her a fighting chance in his mind.

"Tchaikovsky, Violin Concerto in D-major." In the orchestral pit, the rustling of papers could be heard. The conductor raised his hand, and four counts later, the beginning of the violin concerto could be heard throughout the theater.

_This is what she chose? It sounds like elevator music_, Red X thought. The 'elevator music' changed into something vaguely reminiscent of the Nutcracker within a few measures however. The girl hadn't placed her violin into shoulder position yet. Red X studied the music on the stand, and realized why. _Shoot, that's a lot of rests! Wait – how many beats have gone by? When should I play? _Luckily, his question was answered as the girl finally raised her instrument._ Oh… wait how does she know when to play? Where's her music? _The orchestra – or perhaps it was a symphony, he had heard woodwinds – had quieted down, and the girl was playing the first, low note. Red X turned his attention back to the music, and went bug eyed. What was this? This was far more complex than anything he had taught himself so far. What were all those little flags? Why were there little number signs in front of some of the notes and weird rectangles in front of others? What was the hidden meaning of those arched lines, and could notes really go that high above the staff?

Red X tried to play the notes, but it was hopeless, he couldn't read this. But he would not admit defeat. Instead he turned to the girl – saying 'the girl' felt weird, he'd call her Blue - and tried to copy her. He still had a chance, since Blue apparently needed to work on her elbow's position; she kept slipping onto multiple strings. And her left hand was shaking on the fingerboard. Ha! Beneath the calm, condescending exterior she was trembling like a scared little bird. Red X had that effect on people.

But despite this, her fingers were still far nimbler than his. Blue seemed to notice after a few counts that he was trying to copy her motion, smirking slightly she followed the music in another one of its spontaneous mood shifts (something he'd noticed in a lot of classical composers: they were all bipolar) but this time the conductor looked up at Blue in surprise. Suddenly his gaze shifted to me, still trying to copy Blue's fingers, and he nearly broke into hysterics. I became aware of the fact that the entire judging panel was bent over in deep, chest racking fits of silent laughter. Come to think of it, a large portion of the audience was laughing too. _What the…? _The realization struck me at exactly the same moment that I felt a familiar wire wrap around my torso.

Blue – and therefore I – had been playing _Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy_ for the last minute.

My reputation was totally and completely ruined.

As the birdarang finished wrapping me in wire, I dropped the violin in order to try and regain my balance. From backstage I heard a "MY BABY!" and the violinist I had taken the instrument from ran forward.

"How dare you take my viola?" She seethed, grabbing the fallen instrument and pulling back her hand- waaaait, viola? No wonder he hadn't been able to go as high-

_SLAP!_

Red X went reeling, wondering how strong a viola player could be. This had gone on far enough. It was time to go.

"This isn't over" he said menacingly, before pressing a button on his suit and teleporting away.

Rowan/Rowena/Raven/Blue stared at the spot where Red X had last been, before calmly walking off stage.

"I think his ego will be sufficiently deflated for a while," she stated to the odd assortment of teens just behind the curtain as they all seemed to fade to black.

**A/N - 6/26/12; I meant to put an author's note explaining this earlier, but better late than never, eh? Raven's finger were not trembling in fear. Any string musicians in here may have recognized that as Vibrato. Similarly, the slipping onto multiple strings is actually written in the music, though I can't remember the term for it right now. I realize that I sort of switched POVs at one point in this chapter (third to first person) but no one's mentioned it AT ALL, so I only recently noticed it, as well as a word that was accidently excluded. So any 'grammar-nazis' out there, your reviews are particularly welcome :)**


	6. pianissiissiissimo crescendo

**A/N - obviously not a complete chapter. I just thought you ought to know where the previous chapters came from - though the fact that I find this bloody hilarious is another factor as to why I'm showing you this - where 'this' is what chapter _ used to look like.**

Raven awoke

Raven wasn't stupid; she knew better then to try and sit up.

But she ended up getting a headache any way, when

"You're up!"

"Thanks," she said sarcastically, rubbing her temples.

"How long have I been out?"

"A day and two nights. We didn't expect you to regain consciousness for at least another day."

Raven shrugged.

Aqualad seemed to notice something

No. should I have?

He should be here. Shifts

You guys were watching me sleep?

Ummm

Protocol, uncomfortable, haha, uh-oh.

Clark Kent

BLA BLA BLA

**A/N - did you recognize chapter 4? Personally, I find it hard to believe I got 1,327 words out of this :)**


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